The Station Front Library Sees a Tenfold Increase in Visitors, Minamoa Achieves Sales of 53.9 Billion Yen, and Road Subsidence Continues in Hiroshima Station Redevelopment: A Numerical Look at the “Light and Shadow”

The annual sales of the Hiroshima Station building “Minamoa” have exceeded 53.9 billion yen. At first glance, this figure suggests that the redevelopment is an undeniable success. The number of visitors to the adjacent Central Library in April was ten times that of before its relocation. People are gathering, money is flowing, and the center of gravity in the city has certainly shifted.

However, just a few stations west in Fukushima Town, the subsidence caused by a road collapse that occurred two years ago is still ongoing. The city has held six resident briefings and claims that the situation is “showing signs of convergence.” Yet, the forecast that additional remedial work will be necessary after July 2025 speaks volumes about the weight of those words.

The systems we create anew and the systems we repair should ideally support the same urban framework as two interdependent wheels. However, when we lay out the numbers, a significant discrepancy in their rotation rates becomes apparent.

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Minamoa — The Structure Behind “Exceeding Expectations”

The sales figure of 53.9 billion yen for Minamoa is said to have significantly surpassed initial projections. As a complex hub that integrates commercial facilities, dining, tourist information, and a library, it reflects a design philosophy that transcends the conventional notion of a “station building.”

Particularly noteworthy is the fact that the number of visitors to the Central Library has reached ten times that of before its relocation. The library is free to enter. You can be there without shopping or dining. This figure serves as an indicator of “stay” rather than “consumption,” demonstrating that the location in front of the station has fundamentally altered the flow of people.

The previous Central Library was located in the heart of Naka Ward, making it a place one had to intentionally visit. Its move to the station building has transformed it into a place that can be “stopped by” during commutes, school runs, or transfers. While it could be dismissed as mere convenience, what is actually happening is a structural change where public space has been integrated into the daily movement of people.

The increase in sales for commercial facilities and the rise in library visitors are happening simultaneously within the same building. This coexistence of consumption and non-consumption in the design of the hub is likely the essence of what supports Minamoa’s “exceeding expectations.”

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Fukushima Town — The Temperature of the Term “Showing Signs of Convergence”

On the other hand, the road subsidence in Fukushima Town, Nishi Ward, remains an ongoing issue even after two years.

The incident began during sewer construction. A collapse occurred, causing the surrounding ground to sink. Since then, residents have been living with the sounds of cracks in their walls and the daily sensation of doors misaligning. The city has held six resident briefings. “The subsidence is showing signs of convergence” — this is what the city’s explanation states.

However, “showing signs of convergence” does not mean that it has stopped. The forecast that additional remedial work will continue after July 2025 is a reflection that the subsidence is still ongoing. For residents, there is an insurmountable distance between the statistical expression of “trend” and the tangible feeling of their home’s floor gradually tilting.

The number of six briefings can also be seen as significant from another perspective. The fact that one briefing was insufficient indicates that residents’ anxieties were not alleviated after just one meeting. There was a second, a third, and ultimately a sixth. While the increasing number of briefings can be interpreted as a sign of the administration’s sincerity, it simultaneously accumulates the reality that “the issue is still unresolved.”

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What Becomes Visible When Numbers Are Laid Out — “Who Benefits from the System?”

Let’s take a step back and juxtapose the two scenarios.

Numbers from the Minamoa side: Sales of 53.9 billion yen, library visitors ten times higher.
Numbers from the Fukushima Town side: Two years since the collapse, six briefings held, subsidence ongoing.

The former represents the results of “newly created systems,” while the latter is the result of “the breakdown of old systems.” Both are events occurring within the same city of Hiroshima and within the same municipal budget framework.

However, it would be somewhat simplistic to simply conclude that “too much money has been spent on redevelopment, leaving infrastructure repairs on the back burner.” The construction costs for Minamoa are primarily funded by private investments led by JR West, while the maintenance of the sewer system is a public project funded by the city. The sources of funding and the structures of decision-making are different.

The essence of the problem lies not in a competition for budget allocation, but rather in the structural difference in the speed of decision-making and the level of attention given to “newly created systems” versus “repairing old systems.”

New facilities become visible once completed. Clear indicators such as sales figures and visitor counts emerge. The media covers them. Politically, they are easier to discuss as achievements. On the other hand, measures for aging sewer systems yield results when, if successful, “nothing happens.” They do not generate numbers. They are less likely to make the news. They only become visible when they break — that is the fate of the “repairing system.”

This asymmetry is likely a structural dynamic that distorts the allocation of urban costs.

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To Visualize the “Repairing System”

The total length of sewer pipes in Hiroshima City is said to be approximately 4,800 kilometers. Like many municipalities across the country, pipes laid during the period of rapid economic growth are simultaneously reaching their renewal phase. According to statistics from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, approximately 3,000 cases of road subsidence nationwide occur annually due to sewer systems. The Fukushima Town case is not just a problem for Hiroshima; it is a slice of the deterioration quietly progressing underground throughout Japan.

To shed light on the “repairing system,” there needs to be a mechanism to quantify and disclose the state before breakdown occurs. Data on the age of pipes, inspection rates, and progress on renewal plans — if such information is shared in a visible manner with residents, it would create a foundation for recognizing the value of “nothing happening.”

Just as Minamoa can speak of its “success” with the figure of 53.9 billion yen, infrastructure maintenance also needs indicators such as “this year we renewed X kilometers of pipes, reducing the risk of subsidence by Y%.” Without numbers, these discussions will not even make it to the table.

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Points of Interest Moving Forward — Two Time Axes

Minamoa and Fukushima Town each have different time axes flowing through them.

The time axis for Minamoa is “the future.” After the initial effects of opening, can it maintain its visitor numbers in the second year and beyond? Whether the increase in library visitors is a temporary spike due to “novelty” or a structural change that has settled into daily life will become clear in the data over the next one to two years.

The time axis for Fukushima Town is “still ongoing.” The completion date for additional remedial work, confirmation of the cessation of subsidence, and compensation for residents — none of these have a clear end in sight. Will there be a seventh briefing, or will the sixth be the last? Until that answer is revealed, the residents’ time remains frozen.

It is easy to encapsulate urban redevelopment with the phrase “light and shadow.” However, both the light side and the shadow side have their own systems and their own time flows. What is important is to continue placing both the glamorous numbers and the mundane numbers side by side on the same page.

53.9 billion yen and six briefings. Ten times the number of visitors and two years of ongoing subsidence.

Both are happening on the same ground in the same city.